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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks continued losing ground Friday, despite an onslaught of more or less promising economic figures, as eurozone concerns continued to linger ----snipet> In Europe, the euro dwindled to its lowest point since 2008, in part, on an overseas news report saying French President Nicolas Sarkozy had threatened to pull the country out of the euro. That report was later denied by Sarkozy's aides. -----snipet> The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.4% in April from March growth of 2.1%. The increase was better than the 0.2% uptick that the market had been expecting, according to consensus...

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slipped Thursday in choppy trading as investors continued to worry about Europe's ongoing debt problems. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 26 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 index (SPX) slipped 3 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) dropped 4 points, or 0.2%. U.S. stocks extended losses and a key measure of volatility on Wall Street hit a more than three-month high Wednesday amid signs of a deepening crisis in Europe.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington for a nuclear security summit this week is the latest sign of a warming in relations with President Barack Obama's administration that looks set to continue in the months ahead.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway who is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is now in the running for a much more difficult prize: The Kentucky Derby. Conway's horse, Stately Victor, won Saturday's prestigious Bluegrass Stakes in Lexington by 4 1/4 lengths. The win guarantees Stately Victory a place in the 20 horse Derby starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 1.

Americans have for long enjoyed the low interest rates. Now with the nation’s economy back on the road to recovery, consumers will be facing a financial burden of rising interest rates. According to economists, interest rates will rise to surmount the ever increasing debt and prevent inflationary trends in the nation. "Americans have assumed the roller coaster goes one way," said Bill Gross of investment firm Pimco. "It's been a great thrill as rates descended, but now we face an extended climb."

It's the kind of summer moment that makes you happy to be an American: You've just cracked open a Miller beer, wiped your hands on your Levi's 501s and broken out the good old Rawlings baseball for a few rounds of catch, and all seems right with the world. But what's wrong with this picture? Other than a suspicion that you may have traveled back to 1951, what's amiss is that the brands in question -- yes, even that baseball -- are actually foreign-made. Minyanville takes a look at 10 iconic brands that are as American as Dutch apple pie.